The Israeli army began handing over positions to the U.N. early Thursday, stepping up its withdrawal from southern Lebanon after the Lebanese government agreed to deploy troops near Israel's border for the first time in 40 years. The Lebanese Cabinet decision fell short of agreement on disarming the Shiite Muslim militant group, which has insisted it has the right to defend Lebanese territory as long as Israeli troops remain in the country. More than 50 percent of the areas Israel holds has been transferred to the U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, the Israeli army said, adding the process would occur in stages and would depend on a stronger U.N. force as well as "the ability of the Lebanese army to take effective control of the area."... http://news.yahoo.com

A variant of the H5N1 bird flu strain found in southern China caused outbreaks in poultry in Thailand and Laos last month, suggesting the virus was re-introduced through trade, a United Nations agency said. Avian flu killed two people in Thailand during the past three weeks in provinces where the virus sickened fowl in the country's first outbreak this year. H5N1 was also found in birds on farms near the Laotian capital, Vientiane. New infections create chances for the virus to mutate into a pandemic form. The outbreaks in Thailand's Nakhon Phanom province and Laos were caused by a variant not detected previously in either country, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said in an e- mailed statement today. ...http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a73m2NQx2PDM&refer=top_world_news

Mars' southern polar ice cap is believed to erupt in a violent fit of heated gas every spring in a process that helps explain why the Red Planet has dark spots in that region, scientists said Wednesday. Jets of carbon dioxide gas burst from the ice cap as it warms every spring, carrying dark sand and dust that fall back to the surface as dark splotches, concluded Phil Christensen of Arizona State University, who analyzed images from NASA's Odyssey orbiter. "If you were there, you'd be standing on a slab of carbon dioxide ice," he said in a statement. But gas builds beneath the slab, raising it, and bursts through vents in weak spots, he concluded. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2322887

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers launched a new attack overnight on the northern Jaffna peninsula, the army said on Thursday, as a U.S. envoy visited the island but the worst fighting since a 2002 truce showed no sign of abating. The military said it had few details but that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had launched a new offensive around Kilali, at the western end of the peninsula's front line. Since the Tigers launched attacks toward Jaffna last week, telephone communication with the area has been virtually cut off. "There is an attack in Jaffna, that is all we can say," said an army spokesman. An aid worker reported heavy overnight artillery fire, although damage could not be assessed. Pro-rebel website Tamilnet, which diplomats say invariably exaggerates Tiger successes just as the military plays them down, said the Jaffna government military airbase at Palali was hit with artillery....http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2322696

Human Rights Watch warned Wednesday that unexploded munitions threatened to take more lives as civilians returned to their homes after 34 days of fighting in southern Lebanon. The group said it had already received reports of injuries from bombs or missiles that had landed without detonating but exploded later. Most of these munitions are from Israeli strikes and are scattered along roads and in villages in southern Lebanon, the organization said. The unexploded munitions have further complicated the work of aid groups, already hindered by poor road conditions. Rights Watch urged Hezbollah and the Israeli military to share information about intended targets in order to help local authorities direct civilians away from high-risk areas. Marc Garlasco, the group's senior military analyst, said Lebanese civilians were already improving the situation tremendously with their "savvy."...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2322666

Lebanese troops headed to south Lebanon early Thursday to deploy below the Litani River in line with a U.N. cease-fire plan to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, witnesses said. An Associated Press reporter saw about 40 military trucks and jeeps, carrying soldiers, equipment, luggage and plastic water tanks, heading to south Lebanon at around 4 a.m. local time Thursday. The trucks and jeeps hoisted Lebanese flags as they drove into central Beirut on their way to south Lebanon. The army, which had been assembling north of the Litani, was to cross the river Thursday morning. In conjunction with U.N. peacekeepers already in the south, the army will gradually take over territory from which Israeli forces are withdrawing. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/16/world/main1898590.shtml?source=RSS&attr=World_1898590